Building-block



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J. G. ANDERSON. 'BUILDING BLOCK.

No. 124,255.v Patented Maln, 18901.

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AUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

JAMES C. ANDERSON, OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS.

BUILDING-BLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 424,255, dated March 25, 1890.

Application filed December 4, 1888. Renewed March 1, 1890. Serial No. 342,210. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Highland Park, in the county of'Lake and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Clay Building-Blocks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specication.

My invention relates to large blocks for buildin g purposes made of clay; and it consists of blocks made of clay, possessing all the physical characteristics in color and grain yas the various undressed stones, presenting to the eye on the face-walls of the building the natural cleavages, colors, veins, and variegations of the various stones, and at the same time avoiding the disintegrations incident to the various stones by the action of the frost in thermal changes, and supplying this class of building material to the various parts of the country remote from the sources of supply of the various kinds and colors of stones, and also avoiding the great expense incident to dressing the contiguous sides of the various blocks so as to iit and number the blocks comprising the building or structure.

It will be understood in this connection that rapid disintegration takes place on the exposed surfaces of all the natural and artiiicial stones throughout the country wherever hard freezing and sudden thermal changes take place, even to the best granite, which causes a wearing away of the granular surface of the wall, not only destroying the beauty of the surface of the Walls themselves, but carrying the disintegrations to the ornamental parts of the building, causing them to be littered and rendered unsightly, particularly where parts of the walls of the building are faced with iine pressed brick. The disintegrations of the stone above or overlaying the brick are washed over the face of the bricks and permanently absorbed into the pores of the same by osmotic action, and thus permanently staining and disiiguring said walls with the disintegrations. I have therefore produced blocks for facing these Walls Whichpresent to the eye the exact appearance and all 'the requisites possessed by stone blocks for the construction of buildings, not only in the solidity and durability and eesthetic ornamentation, but a block that will not disintegrate but remain `permanent against the action of the weather and thermal changes.

In applications tiled of even date herewith, Serial Nos. 292,582 and 292,583, I have shown, described, and claimed the machine and Vmethod of making the clay blocks or bodies in imitation of stone.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side view of a large block, showing the fracture in imitation of stone. Fig. 2 is a top or plan showing a block or body of clay broken into two parts longitudinally. Fig. 3 is a side view of a small block which has been torn or broken from the main block. Fig. 4 is an end view of the blocks shown inFig. 3. Fig. 5 is a front View of a portionof a wall built of my improved block.

The clay from which the bodies or blocks are made is by preference the pure clay, free from mineral oxides, and a clay which when burned in its natural state will be of a creamcolor or white. This clay is mixed with the proper metallic oxides to produce the kind of stone or imitation of stone desired, and is pressed to form large bodies made up 'of a series of layers of clay pressed together and joined by means of a slip deposited on the surface of the layer last formed, and then pressing another layer of clay thereon, thus forming a body of any desired length or thickness. The blocks forming the subject-matter of thisapplication are torn from this clay body in sections of the desired size, which gives to the ends of the blocks the appearance of the natural fracture of stone, the sides of said blocks being well-defined, smooth, and presenting proper surfaces to be laid in the walls of the building. The faces of the blocks, as before intimated, represent the natural fracture of stone, and the particles of clay forming the face of the block will present the full granular appearance of the natural stone, and when the blocks are burned the granules will be so firmly fixed' that no IOO possible disintegration can take place by thermal changes` or. osmotic action.

A indicates the body of the block, made up of a series of clay slabs a, as has been already indicated, and B indicates the face of the same in imitation of the natural fracture of the stone.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown blocks which f have been severed from the main body in a line transverse to its length, the fracture taking place through the center of one of the layers of (clay.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown larger blocks, in Which the line of fracture has 'been made through the center of the body in a line parallel Withvthesides of ,the body, and at right angles tothe linefon which the .cementation ofthe blocks takes place; These larger blocks Serial Nos. 292,582 and 292,583, I have claimed v the machine and the method, and such not claim in this application.

What I claim is- A block or body for building and other purposes, made from a series of thin slabs of clay, and having a face representing the natural fracture of stone.

In k'testimony whereof I affix my .signature in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

J. U. ANDERSON.

Ido

Witnesses:

L. W. SINSABAUGH, H. M. STERLING. a 

